April 28, 2016 at 10:22 am · Filed under Uncategorized and tagged: Nigeria

Most Nigerian missions/embassies abroad are broke and unable to meet their obligations. Nigerian diplomatic missions are faced with several challenges, chief of which include their inability to pay their workers, delays in the issuance of visas and passports, lack of funding for day-to-day operations, and inability to pay the rent of embassies and workers’ residences. Sources at the Nigerian embassy in the United States informed THISDAY that even before the demise of Ambassador Ade Adefuye, Nigeria’s last ambassador to the US, the mission had been bugged down by paucity of funds. They added that the Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C. often incurs and pays for its bills on credit and it takes a long time before the embassy is reimbursed by the federal government. Nigerians in the diaspora complained of the incompetence and lack of funds exhibited by Nigerian embassy officials overseas. Some also spoke of alleged demands for gratification by Nigeria embassy officials for the simplest of requests, which also compounds the negative image of Nigeria abroad. Efforts to speak with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the parlous state of Nigeria’s missions overseas hit a brick wall as calls and texts to the ministry’s spokesman, Mr. Akinremi Bolaji, were unanswered.